I have adored Ricky Jay ever since House of Games. Also because I was an amateur magician as a teenager. I think his performance in Heist is my favorite, funny and touching.
Ricky Jay's first film work was as a technical adviser on the 1982 film THE ESCAPE ARTIST. In the film, "Danny Masters" (Griffin O'Neal), teen-aged son of the late Harry Masters, the "greatest escape artist in the world, after Houdini", leaves home to join his "Uncle Burke" (Gabriel Dell) and "Aunt Sibyl" (Joan Hackett) in their magic/mentalist act. Sibyl welcomes him; Burke is unenthusiastic. Danny is himself an accomplished magician and escape artist. He soon finds himself embroiled in a conflict with "Stu Quinones" (Raul Julia), the over-the-edge son of "Mayor Leon Quinones" (Desi Arnaz).
Ricky Jay gave actor Griffin O'Neal a crash course in magic and its philosophy for his role as a teenage magician. This included learning such tricks as juggling, fine-fingered lock work, and sleight-of-hand maneuvers. Jay had been a professional magician since the age of seven. O'Neal said that the hardest part of performing the magic tricks in the film was having to perform them alone, without any help from fellow cast members.
THE ESCAPE ARTIST was the debut feature film directed by cinematographer Caleb Deschanel.
Jay was a technical consultant on the 1987 occult horror thriller THE BELIEVERS. John Schlesinger directed the film. J. Peter Robinson's score was released by Perseverance in 2009.
In addition to being a "consultant on confidence games" for 1987's HOUSE OF GAMES, Ricky Jay made his onscreen film debut, playing "George," a gambling partner of Joe Mantegna's "Mike." In the film, a psychiatrist (Lindsay Crouse) comes to the aid of a compulsive gambler and is led by a smooth-talking grifter into the shadowy but compelling world of stings, scams, and con men.
In an NPR interview, Ricky Jay related that when writer-director David Mamet needed a short-change scam to be explained in the film, he asked Jay for details of an authentic short-change hustle. However, Jay did not want to betray the confidence of the hustlers he knew who still used various short-change cons for their "livelihood". The envelope switch seen in the film is an original switch invented by Jay specially for the film. Later, it was reported that an amateur thief had been caught attempting to use the switch as he had learned it from the film.
Ricky Jay took a straight acting role for writer-director David Mamet in the 1988 comedy THINGS CHANGE. Set in Chicago, the film begins as elderly Italian shoeshine man, "Gino" (Don Ameche), is invited to the home of organized crime don, “Mr. Green” (Mike Nussbaum). While there, Green’s assistant, “Mr. Silver” (Ricky Jay) informs Gino that he looks similar to their associate who has been “mistakenly accused” of murder. Asking Gino to confess that he is the murderer, Mr. Silver promises he will only spend three to five years in prison, and will receive a large sum of money when released.
The film's score my Alaric Jans has not had a release.
Ricky Jay acted in his third film for writer-director David Mamet with 1991's HOMICIDE. In the film, a Jewish homicide detective (Joe Mantegna) investigates a seemingly minor murder of an old Jewish woman and falls in with a Zionist group as a result. Jay had a small role as "Aaron." Alaric Jans score did not get a release.
In 1992's SNEAKERS, a security professional (Robert Redford) finds his past coming back to haunt him, when he and his unique team are tasked with retrieving a particularly important item. Ricky Jay acted as the "sleight of hand consultant" on the film, which was directed by Phil Alden Robinson. James Horner's score was released by Columbia.
Ricky Jay was a technical consultant for 1994's WOLF. Mike Nichols directed this horror film, which starred Jack Nicholson and Michelle Pfeiffer. Ennio Morricone's score was released by Columbia/Sony Classical.
Ricky Jay was credited as the "illusion wheelchair designer" for 1994's FORREST GUMP. This was a special wheelchair for Gary Sinise that used an illusion to hide his legs, which were on a hidden platform underneath. The physical contortion required to sit in the chair meant that Sinise could only be in it for about ten minutes at a time.
Robert Zemeckis directed the film. Columbia/Epic/Sony released a double CD set of pop and rock songs from the film and a single CD of Alan Silvestri's score.
Ricky Jay was a technical consultant and "illusion creator" on 1995's CONGO. Frank Marshall directed the film. Jerry Goldsmith's score was released by Epic and re-issued in an expanded format by Intrada in 2013.
In his fourth film for writer-director David Mamet, THE SPANISH PRISONER, Ricky Jay both co-starred and served as a technical consultant. The film follows "Joe Ross" (Campbell Scott), who is employed by a top-secret company. Ross, an inventor, has developed a mathematical formula with a huge potential for revenue. His boss, "Mr. Klein" (Ben Gazzara), is cautiously pleased with the prospects for great fortune, but he patronizes Scott, keeping him in the dark about his own profit participation and even bringing in outside attorneys to invalidate his contract.
That's just the beginning. In a labyrinthine arrangement of shady characters, plot twists and surprise reversals, we also meet "Jimmy" (Steve Martin), an arrogant, mysterious businessman who persuades Scott to do him a favor; a company secretary (Rebecca Pidgeon, Mamet's wife) who makes a series of blatant plays for Scott's affection; a woman who says she works for the FBI (Felicity Huffman); and Scott's best buddy and colleague, "George Lang," played by Ricky Jay.
Carter Burwell's score for the 1998 film has not had a release.
Campbell Scott and Ricky Jay in THE SPANISH PRISONER
BOOGIE NIGHTS was the story of a young man's adventures in the Californian pornography industry of the late 1970s and early 1980s. The ensemble cast was headed by Mark Wahlberg, whose boyish yet defiled look made him a natural to play a porn star. He is "Eddie Adams," a young man of unique physical endowments. "Everyone's blessed with one special thing," he says.
The 1997 picture, directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, follows a handful of characters as they leave the hedonistic yet oddly innocent '70s and enter the more cold-blooded, commercial '80s. Among those is "Kurt Longjohn" (Ricky Jay), a cinematographer on porn films.
Only one track from Michael Penn's score appeared on the song-track CD from Capitol/EMI Records. The soundtrack was so popular, and there were so many songs used in the film, that a second CD of additional songs was released four months later.
Jack Wallace, Burt Reynolds, Ricky Jay, and Mark Wahlberg in BOOGIE NIGHTS
In 1997's TOMORROW NEVER DIES, Ricky Jay played "Henry Gupta," a computer genius who works for "Elloit Carver" (Jonathan Pryce), a megalomaniac and selfish media baron, who plans to induce war between China and the UK in order to obtain exclusive global media coverage. Jay's character was originally written as a young man from India, hence the name.
Since Jay is an acclaimed magician, who holds a world record for the fastest throwing of playing cards, the producers initially wanted a scene where he threw playing cards at James Bond. They set up the scene to block, Ricky was fifty or seventy-five feet away, and was asked to hit Pierce Brosnan in the face. Ricky warned them it wasn't a good idea, safety wise. After they convinced him to do it, he agreed, and hit Brosnan right above the eyes. To Jay's disappointment, they never asked him to repeat the throw at Bond on film. Gupta is shown throwing cards in the deleted scenes on the DVD.
Roger Spottiswoode directed the film. David Arnold's score was released by A&M Records in the U.S.
Paul Thomas Anderson's MAGNOLIA was an epic mosaic of interrelated characters in search of love, forgiveness, and meaning in the San Fernando Valley. Ricky Jay, working with the director again following BOOGIE NIGHTS, co-starred as "Burt Ramsey," as well as provided the film's bookend narration. Jon Brion's score was released by Reprise, who also issued a separate song-track CD.
Jay also narrated the film's trailer, which features shots filmed especially for it, featuring each character, in a specific location from the film in which they were prominently featured, looking directly at the camera and saying their name.
Jay was a technical consultant on the 1987 occult horror thriller THE BELIEVERS. John Schlesinger directed the film. J. Peter Robinson's score was released by Perseverance in 2009.
STATE AND MAIN was a comedy-drama about a movie crew who invades a small town whose residents are all too ready to give up their values for showbiz glitz. Ricky Jay, who plays "Jack Taylor," the on-screen father of "Carla Taylor" (Julia Stiles), had acted in four of writer-director David Mamet's previous films. Theodore Shapiro's score was released by BMG/RCA.
